Category Archives: Shaker cards

Those of you who follow me, may recall THIS card with a similar concealed surprise. I just love that the Spellbinders Die-of-the-Month acorn can be turned into a gift card holder for these fun acorn-shaped gift cards from that coffee shop that ends in BUCK$!

And the Queen & Company Happy Harvest Fall Kit has those fab acorn shakers to match. This time the shaker is filled with fabulous mini ‘gems.’ Observation: The gorgeous glitter paper in that kit is made so well that the glitter won’t rub off, but that also means it’s not really the best for intricate dies, like the Hello Fall insert of this acorn die. It simply doesn’t want to cut clear through. I recommend using it for non-intricate cutting. The leaf also gets added dimension when you score the veins. The acorns get some realistic color with a dauber and some Distress inks.

What else is behind that acorn?….

This darling family! I love that the two squirrels/chipmunks in the acorn are hugging, with coffee in hand… something that has led to many a spill in this family! And the mugs have kitty paw prints on them and a stuffed kitty is lying on the floor… another signature of our family. The sentiment: ‘You are my favorite nuts’ – ever so apropos! By cutting them out of separate cardstock, I was able to color them with Copics and not have them bleed through to the back of the card. It also allowed me to fussy cut around the arms and put them through the cup handles.

By the way… didja notice that acorns, just like humans, come in all varieties?! : )

Hello crafty peeps and Hello Pumpkin Spice Season! Ahhh…. PSL (Pumpkin Spice Lattes)… my favorite treat of the year! So much so, that I got a great Black Friday deal on a coffee maker and a bunch of decaf pumpkin spice pods so I can have it year round without having to pay mega BUCK$ at that place that ends in ‘BUCKS’ (in just 6 cups I will have recuperated my investment). But we’re not here to talk economics. The Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop continues…

I received a Happy Harvest Fall Kit from Queen & Company (THANKS!). It includes the stamps, dies, and pre-cut adhesive foam and clear shaker covers, fall papers and cook shaker beads and gems:

I did a little bit of surgery to the stamps with a scissors to get the sentiment I wanted, added the fabulous Zen cup from Stamplorations and a card base and, violá:

To get the dimension on the pumpkins, I added some score lines and then hit them with a bit of darker ink on my finger (too lazy to go get a dauber. lol!). The unused inner piece of adhesive foam was perfect to cut up and use for popping up the sentiment. (I’m thinking I should have popped up the cup, too. 20/20 hindsight!) I ran yellow and orange markers along the edges of the foam that would show so they weren’t stark white.

There is something satisfying about hearing a shaker… It must take us back to our childhood and the comforting sound of a rattle

We were given lists in two categories (Technique and Card Type) and told to choose one from each. I chose to do a shaker card with the emboss resist technique.

I love using this pretty lace background with the emboss resist technique as it always turns out SO pretty! You probably can’t tell, but this shaker is clear on both sides. For added interest I stuck the plain white die cut one the inside of the card. I’m loving those pretty Ken Oliver Color Burst inks! Because they have pigment in them, you need to wipe the embossed area with a baby wipe when done blending the colors

For a long time I’ve been wanting to do these candy jar shakers, so I made a batch of them. I got the lid slightly lopsided, which made me giggle as it reminded me of the candy jar my aunt always put in my room when I stayed with her. Mom’s rule was not go meddling, so I never peeked in the dresser drawers or anything. But I knew that candy jar was there for me, so I’d sneak a piece now and then and sometimes, to be quiet, the lid didn’t always get back on straight. : )

As you can tell from this pic, I didn’t get the ‘crystal’ filling all the way to the back of the card and the pieces can get up in there and, since it’s tight, they can get stuck. I should have thought to put adhesive over the dried ‘crystal’ filling. Next time…

I also did a couple with jelly beans. You can see I had the same trouble, this time with the bottom, too, so it doesn’t look nearly as full as many went down into the bottom. sigh. Live and learn!

I like how those embossed lines add texture and make a ‘table’ for the jar and candies.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how they went together…

I intend to get some real mints and jelly beans to go with these cards for a fun gift!

Oh, I am so excited to share all the fun stuff in today’s post for the Cat Lovers Hop!

I can’t believe it’s already half over! Are you having fun yet?!!! Can you tell I’m a ‘litter’ bit excited?!! You’d better grab a cuppa as this post will be MUCH longer than my average post. For those of you who persevere and make it all the way to the end, there may be some extra special blog candy waiting for you. (wink-wink!)

Many of you are familiar with one of our generous sponsors, Newton’s Nook and the famous cat for which they’re named. (If you’re not, you can read Newton’s story HERE.) Did you know there’s another feline in the family named Hobbes?! If you’re one of the nearly 3k followers of Newton’s Nook on Instagram, you’ll see pictures of them both, but a quick scroll through reveals Newton about 20x more often than Hobbes. Who can blame him – what with the company named after Newton and all. So I thought we needed to get to know Hobbes a little better and he graciously answered a few interview questions for us.

If it’s not too personal, can I ask if you were named after Calvin’s best friend?

Yes I am! My owner, Jeff, loved Calvin and Hobbes cartoons and has all the books so when they adopted me he wanted to name me after his favorite cartoon tiger.

I love how Calvin’s Hobbes always pretended to be a stuffed animal when other people were around, but went back to being a tiger with Calvin! lol! Believe it or not, I still have their books, too! I found these cartoons about Calvin’s crafting skills that might give crafters a chuckle:

What’s it REALLY like living with Newton?

Newton is a great big brother. We like to snuggle and nap together when it’s cold outside. Although sometimes we do argue over who gets to sit in an open window or sunbeam!

Do you think Jen will ever do a Hobbes stamp?

I don’t think so. I’m too shy to be in the spotlight! But I have seen Jen color the kitty images to look like me on some of her cards!

Do you have any crafts you enjoy getting your paws into?

Sometimes I like to chase bits of bakers twine when Jen is crafting! But mostly, I just like to keep her company and sit on the chair beside her while she creates or walk across her creations!

What is your favorite thing to do with paper?

Chase it, of course!! Or sit on it!

Do people often send you and Newton cards or hand-made crafts? What are some of your favorites?

We do sometimes receive handmade cards from our fans and the whole family loves to see what everyone creates! Cards with cats colored to look like the card creators pets are my favorites!

Thank you, Hobbes, for taking some prime sunbeam time to chat with us! You look so dapper in your bow tie!! (Bow ties arecool!) Here’s a parting truism from Calvin & Hobbes:

Speaking of Calvin & Hobbes… If you’re a fan, you might enjoy checking out Disney artist Brian Keesinger’s Instagram account for some fun Little Hahn and Chewie mash-ups reminiscent of Bill Watterson’s work. (… like this one HERE… or THIS ONE… and THIS ONE… ok, I’ll leave you to find more that you like! No… wait! One more just for the Cat Lovers Hop… the C.AT-AT — HERE.)

Well, now, back to the crafting. In honor of Hobbes visit, for today’s project I put together a couple of DIY kitty kiddy games. You know those little containers you get with take-out sauces or dressings in them?

The lids can be easily up-cycled to make these fun little games. (I also use the cups to mix and briefly store paints.)

I tried my hand a coloring one for Hobbes and one for Newton. My apologies to both of you as I’m not the greatest color-er. I’ll have better pics here in a minute… meanwhile, here’s a quick video of one in action:

I used some fall-colored cat paper and, since there was an outer ring, I poured in some fall-colored beads for a shaker effect, too. – Hey! You could add a handle and make a baby rattle and if you see your baby master the game, you’ll know you have a genius! Just kidding! lol!! They probably present a choking hazard, so best not to give to anyone under 5 – and no kitties, either, ok?!

I’ve long looked at the basket of the hot air balloon in Newton Dreams of Paris and thought it looked like a Rubik’s cube, so I turned it into one. I’m sure Hobbes is smart enough to sort that out once he wakes up!!

And, of course, the nerd in me HAD to put Newton’s game on a Newton’s Cradle for the photo! (for the non-nerds among us, this is a device named after Sir Isaac Newton that demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy.) If this was for the coffee hop, I’d’ve put grounds and brown beads in the shaker part. : )

Tips and lessons learned:

Punch the holes in the game board BEFORE you put the backing paper on! Can you guess how I know?!!

Using cardstock to cover the cardboard on both sides adds strength to the base.

I used E6000 adhesive for the outer edge of the lid as it was so thin I needed something to sit on the edge without running down the side. Plus it doesn’t dry too quickly, allowing me to take a flat toothpick and drag it along the edge at my slow pace and then put the Krazy glue on the inner part and still have it sticky when I was done. Also, it is strong enough that I regularly use it on jewelry, so I knew it would hold well. Once dry, I noticed that I’d missed a couple of spots, but that was easily remedied by putting some E6000 right up against the edge. Alternately, you could run a bead of decorative hot glue around the edge.

I used Krazy glue on the inner flat ring as it would spread easily and not leave streaks when dry. After using the glues, I could relate a bit to this Calvin & Hobbes comic… (I think glue has a life of its own as it always manages to get somewhere that I didn’t put it!!)

Check that your beads will move around freely once the backing is on BEFORE you glue the top down. : ) Can you guess how I know?!!

I pricked the holes with a paper piercer, then enlarged them a bit with that tool with a round ball that you use to shape flowers (senior moment) and finally smoothed it out and widened it a bit more with a ball point pen.

Turn the plastic lid upside down and fill it with your beads, put the glue on the edges and lay your backing on top of the lid without turning it over until it dries. Place a paperweight on top to hold it down for a tight seal. This will keep your beads from sticking to any excess glue. Can you guess how I know?!! There was, indeed, a little bit of trial and error with these, but I like how they turned out.

Whew! Congrats!! You’ve made it all the way to the end of this post. Now what?!!

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

***** Edited to add: giveaway now closed*****

Hobbes whispered something to Jen after his interview and she generously offered to donate a surprise stamp set of the mischievous Newton as blog candy for someone today! AND she said it was open to anyone – international or USA! Woot-woot! Want to see which set she is offering? You can see it by clicking HERE, and while you’re there, you might want to go check out the other fab and fun goodies in her store, ok?!!

If you would like to be in the running to win this Newton’s Nook blog candy, pay close attention to the rules: Leave ONE comment on this post before 11:59 pm Pacific, Sunday Oct. 30, 2016, using the phrase “CALVIN & HOBBES” somewhere in your comment. If you don’t have the words “CALVIN & HOBBES” in your comment, I’ll assume you’re not interested in the blog candy (and won’t be offended!). Also, if you are (or become) a follower of this blog, you may make a SECOND comment telling me so for an additional entry. You may also receive an ADDITIONAL entry by becoming a follower of Newton’s Nook’sANDmy Instagram accounts (@newtonsnook and @d.ann.c). If you do follow both of our Instagram accounts, come back here and leave comment with your Instagram user name. Duplicate comments will be deleted. There you have it… you may have up to three chances to win. FYI: This particular giveaway is only open to anyone world-wide.

On October 31, 2016, I will use Mr. Random org to draw a winner from the comments that qualify and will try to announce it here on the blog some time before noon EASTERN time. Please come back and check to see if you’re the winner. The winner will have 72 hours to contact me with their snail-mail address or another winner will be chosen. I will then forward your address to Jen who will send your prize directly to you.

Phew! It took me a green tea frap and a pumpkin spice latte just to get through it all! I promise the rest of my posts for this hop will be MUCH shorter…. Like if this post was comparable a Main Coon cat’s tail, the rest should be like Manx tails, ok?! lol!! Thanks to you all for your patience and for your kind words of encouragement in the comments. They mean a lot to me!

I’ll be back again real soon… do try and stop back by!!

~D.Ann

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p.s. any ads on this page are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

I thought I’d start by sharing with you something cool that came my way recently. Knowing I love tea and tea parties, my cousins surprised me this fabulously beautiful and unique Burton + Burton teapot/cup for one, and a terrific loose-leaf brewer/strainer with a bunch of wonderful Teavana teas, including a DIVINE chocolate decadence oolong. What a bunch of sweeties they are!! The teapot came from an amazing tea house called Batar, near Seymour, Indiana. Check out their website to see their amazing edible cookie gift boxes and other fun stuff. Worth stopping by if you’re travelling through!! (They serve regular tea-bag teas, but their food was delish and the shopping delightful for any tea/coffee lover!!)

Now, on to today’s card. I have a fun shaker tag on it with a concealed gift card for a coffee drinking friend:

I think most gals with CFS feel that chick most days – talk about hitting the wall! lol! If I were making this for me, I’d’ve put ‘chocolate’ instead of coffee. : )

A quick note on how the leaves were made: I love how the Color Burst pigment powders do just what their name says… you sprinkle just a little on your paper, then spritz with water and the colors really do burst on the scene!

Now, I could’ve added more color and spritzed again, but I wanted that just for some natural variation in the fall leaves. I then cut them out and colored the rest in with Copics and distressed them, folding in the veins. In real life, they look pretty realistic!

Oh, one other quick note… I had a brand new Hero Arts ombre pad that came unglued from the base. A while back another manufacturer’s petal point ink pad did the same and they told me just to glue it back on. I wrote Hero Arts asking the best way to glue theirs back on and they quickly wrote back saying that they stand by their product and would replace it for me. It was in the mail the very next day. THAT is customer service, folks!! This pad has worked fine ever since. Now I love Hero Arts all the more!

Supplies:

Hero Arts – A Little stamp set

Stamping Bella – the chicks who “couldn’t even” stamp set

CAS-ual Fridays – Scallop Tag and Acorn Fri-dies

Hero Arts ombre Butter Bar to Orange Soda dye ink pad

Color Box Cocoa pigment ink (for COFFEE)

Ranger clear embossing powder (over the cocoa ink)

Memento Rich cocoa ink (bird and sentiment)

Ken Oliver’s Color Bursts: Sepia, Burnt Orange, Yellow Ochre

Copic Markers:

Bird & wall: C1, 3, 5; Y13, 15, 17; YR04, 07; R29, 89; W1, 3

Leaves: E29, YR02, 04, 07; R29, 39

Pebbles, Inc. Basic Brights Chalks

Dreamweaver Picasso tool (for clouds)

Martha Stewart Crafts Vintage Leaf Glitter – Brownstone

Core-dinations cardstock – white & orange

Tombow: Xtreme permanent adhesive and foam tape

Misc. seed beads

Starbucks gift card

I’m playing along with the following hops and challenges – just click on any one for more information:

I learned a lot with this challenging card! First, Color Box pigment inks are sooo juicy, they take ages to dry, even with a heat gun. They’re gorgeous, but they’re not made for impatient people. : ) I made several long, slow passes with my heat gun and tested with a paper towel after each when I thought it would be dry… Nope. No. Nuh-uh. Almost… Even when I finally was SURE it was dry and went to heat emboss, some stray particles of the embossing powder stuck, in spite of using a powder duster. I fixed that by purposefully re-wetting some areas and sprinkling more embossing powder randomly around the card front for a distressed, almost starry night look.

Oh, wait… you’d probably like to see the inside…

Love that kitty and sentiment! Here’s a quick video of the card in action:

I loved the cool idea of a complete see-through shaker they showed at Camp Create, but wanted to make mine a double layer, so I broke out the Fuse tool. This was my first attempt at using it. I practiced all over two Ziplock freezer bags before I got good enough to get a good seal without melting the plastic. I like how the pattern gives me an outline of the balloons on the front page, adding more depth to the double layers.

If you want to see a step-by-step tutorial of this card with tips and tricks in the near future, let me know in the comments… If I get enough requests, I’ll do another one sooner rather than later. : )

That’s the final badge for the Camp Create. Now I have all 5! It was a fun and challenging ‘retreat’!!

Now I have to get back to recovering any salvageable data from my old hard drive as my current backup was bad, too. Technology! I had a couple more cards planned for the Coffee Lovers hop… we’ll see if I get time to get them made up and get around to visiting some of your projects before it’s over. Happy hopping!

Thank you all for stopping by and for your kind comments!

~D.Ann

p.s. any ads on this page are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

I’ve been so out of it lately! I forgot my one year blog anniversary aka blogiversary was March 18. Seems like ages ago! Who knew that I’d have 1991 visitors from 58 countries leaving 1380 kind comments on my 129 posts?! Of course it’s fitting that this anniversary falls during the Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop… for it was these lovely ladies who encouraged me to start my blog last year and I’d say a large majority of my visitors are from these hops. So I’ll have a small little ‘thank-you’ giveaway for you sweeties at the end of this post.

I’m pleased that this lovely shaker card serendipitously came together for today’s post:

I love the girly feminine look and I threw in some coffee grounds in the shaker, so it smells heavenly, too… Hmmm… maybe next time I’ll only use coffee grounds and write ‘in case of emergency, just add water.’ Lol!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today! Oh – wait! The blog candy!! Silly me – Brain fog moment! I have a lot of those… like the time I bought this Sizzix/Tim Holtz Texture Fades embossing folder: On the Go – I had already ordered one 3 days before. Sigh. At least I had a nice use for it… Blog candy!

I also found another lovely Studio Shop/Susan Winget Flour Sack towel for one of you:

Would you like to have a chance at winning either of these (each one is a separate prize)? Pay close attention: Leave ONE comment on this post before 8 am EASTERN time, Sunday, March 27, 2016, telling me: Do you prefer your coffee or tea hot or cold? If you don’t answer the question in your comment, I’ll assume you’re not interested in the blog candy (and won’t be offended!). You can also tell me if you have a preference for just a specific one of the two prizes, otherwise you will be a random draw for each. If you are (or become) a follower of this blog, you may make a SECOND comment telling me so for an additional entry. For non-followers, ONE ENTRY/COMMENT per person. Duplicate comments will be deleted.

For those of you with allergy concerns, this is a pet-free/smoke free home.

On March 27, 2016 I will use Mr. Random org to draw a winner from the comments that qualify and will try to announce it here on the blog some time before noon EASTERN time. The way my days are going recently, I might run a little late, so be patient. That’s another advantage of becoming a follower… You’ll know when I post! : ) You already know it’s a pet peeve of mine when someone doesn’t post their winners ’til days or weeks after they say they will, so I always try my best to stick to what I say. The winner will have 72 hours to contact me with their snail-mail address or another winner will be chosen.

Thanks so much for your kind comments of encouragement and support over the past year! I look forward to sharing another year of crafty fun with you!

-D.Ann

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p.s. Any ads you may see are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

Good morning! I have a fun cocoa card for you today – its both a shaker and a spinner!

And, if I can get this link to work, here’s a few seconds of video showing it in action. I am VERY amateur with videos (almost as much as with hand lettering. lol!), so begging your pardon in advance… (If it doesn’t show up, you’ll have to click on the link.)

to make a ring for the pennies of the spinner to glide through, I used the smallest die of the Grand Ovals and the largest die of the Large Classic Ovals. A die from the Small Classic Ovals was used for the window.

I don’t have any pierced dies, but a tracing wheel with a serrated edge and a ruler works almost as well for straight lines… I haven’t tried ovals or circles yet. (you can click on the picture to enlarge it and see the piercing.)

Punch two rounds of Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L 3d Foam Sheets to use as spacers between your pennies.

Cut acetate the next larger size oval than your opening and affix with Glossy Accents. Die cut the word ‘Chocolate’ and cut away the h, l, and te and affix the word Cocoa to the front of the acetate with Glossy Accents.

Line the backs of the cardstock with foam. I find die cutting foam compresses it too much and personally prefer hand-cutting it. The cut edges don’t have to be pretty, but they DO have to be far enough away from the slider to allow the pennies to pass freely. (Full disclosure – it’s a little tight in the spot of the shaker where the video stops… sometimes it goes through, but sometimes it needs a little push.)

Make sure the foam around the shaker part is completely stuck down and continuous all around so that nothing will escape. I used E6000 glue, which was probably overkill, but I didn’t want to experiment with anything and knew it’d hold. I’ve had several failures with sticky sheets and foam. Next time I will try foam that already has a sticky back!

Glue the outer part of the card to the base first. I like to run a dryer sheet across the card base and the shaker to prevent static electricity. Place the bottom penny with the foam dots stacked right in the center and a pile of shaker goodies in the center of your card. Glue down the center piece.

All that’s left is to glue Newton and his cup of hot chocolate to the other penny (please remember that chocolate is NOT good for real-life furry friends as it contains theobromine that they can’t digest), and then stick him centered on the foam penny. NOW you can say you’ve got your two cents worth in. (Please don’t throw tomatoes… you’ll only get your screen dirty!)

OH…. then you notice that ti’s a little plain and you wish you’d have distressed the edges and stamped something in the corners. But stamping on an uneven surface can be so risky… Thank you MISTI!! I had to re-stamp the sentiment and the solid cup 3 times, but it came out perfect!